4.12.13

Headaches and Sleepless Nights = Our Life Right Now.

by Ed

This picture says 1000 words about not being able to sleep. (Take away the bangs - and this could be Robin every night for this last month.) image source: Sleep-Centre.ca

When you talk to someone this time of year and they tell you about how busy they are, you could be excused for fantasising about punching them. EVERYONE is busy this time of year. Shopping, family get togethers, work parties, on top of all the usual life stuff. Come on!

So if you want to uppercut us, we’re cool with it. But… We. Are. Busy.

Our posts have gotten few and far between, but we aren’t on vacation. We have all the usual holiday stuff going on, but in addition we are also moving Robin’s mom into a senior’s condo. So add to our list:

- negotiating a home purchase,

- shopping for a pile of new furniture (much of the older stuff had outlived its usefulness),

- coordinating a contractor for painting and repairs,

- dealing with what gets to move and what stays.

Don’t get us started on emptying her old townhouse and doing the repairs necessary to sell it. Gaaak.

So where is this woe-is-me-stuff going? Well, the number one thing that you will notice is our posting will take a dip. We are still doing fun, blog-worthy stuff - I built a backyard rink, for example, so our kids could further enjoy their newfound passion for skating. But right now, just because something is Blog-worthy, doesn`t mean it will actually get blogged.

I made this, but this is likely the only post you’ll see it in for now.

What else gets affected? Well, at the best of times Robin has trouble sleeping. She’s good at lots of stuff - sleeping is not one of them. According to Sleep-Centre.ca, she isn’t alone - about one in four of us aren’t getting enough shut-eye at night, with top reasons being stress, work and pain. We can check off all three right now. Since the moving-her-mom stuff got rolling, Robin hasn’t slept a full night through without at least some of her usual “busy-brain” interruption. This isn’t great.

As for myself, when Robin doesn’t sleep well, it usually translates into me not sleeping too. Either I’m concerned about what is stressing her or we’re waking each other up with our mutual tossing and turning. Also, as a side note, I’m also discovering that getting close to 40 means my body interprets virtually all physical activity as “working out” and produces aches and pains consistent with going to the gym. Seriously? I crouch down a few times building a backyard rink and my legs think I did 100 squats. Getting old sucks.

So, how have we been managing our less than perfect sleep situation lately? Sleep-Centre.ca has a great list of tips - many of which we already do: White noise, ear plugs, “Hugging Pillows”. I also gave Tylenol Nighttime a shot for pain management - we are so thankful to have this product in the medicine cabinet.

A sleep-filled and pain-free night is a precious commodity around here. (By the way, there is a coupon available now here or click the image below.)

All in all, we will get through this. The holidays will arrive and most of the real work around moving Robin’s mom will be in the rear view mirror, but that is still a ways off. For now, sleep is a precious commodity and we will be hoarding every bit we can.

Thanks for listening to us complain a bit. If you want to vent a bit about your sleeplessness, feel free to rant away in the comments. You may sleep better for it.

This post was kindly sponsored by Tylenol Nighttime, but the opinions are all my own. For more information, visit Sleep-centre.ca

Wow, that seems like too much to manage during an already busy season. Our moving/closing is upon us too, so I relate to that kind of busy crammed in amongst the holiday stuff you try to do for fun. But the tasks that go along with repairing/primping/decluttering some else's home adds much more stress not to mention the worry about the transition for your mom (mother-in-law). It's good that this should be a positive move for your mom, but there's still always some concern that goes along with major changes like this.

all the best- I wish you well, for your whole family (and even just a couple of good night's sleep).

We love our rink, Cindy - except this week it melted :( Good news was - our dog had a giant water dish to drink out of. ;)

We are managing a lot right now. My head's spinning a bit - but the end is near! Ed and I both took "personal days" at work to move her in this Thursday! I'm excited - both for her new life there - and also to have an end to this constant work. Ed and I joke that we've been working double shifts for the past month. I wish that joke was funny.